I am very glad that I started this selfproject.

Within a very short time I have already benefited from the positive effects. But every beginning is difficult.

I would like to tell you about my experiences of consciously looking less in the smartphone.

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In the beginning, it needed to be clarified how much less do I want to check my smartphone? It would be important to unlock it from time to time and check for new events, messages and so on. Especially at the beginning, I wanted to specify how often the day I should look at my smartphone and carry out the upcoming tasks (reading messages, replying to messages, checking Instagram, call up news, etc.,...).

I have to say, I imagined the whole thing would be easier as we use smartphones for everyday tasks these days! There is, for example, the timer, the alarm clock, the weather forecast, learning languages ​​via apps, checking the clock and and and!. I use these things very consistently... Yes, I even have an app that wants to teach me a new foreign word every day. Turns out it wasn't as easy as I originally thought. Nevertheless, I decided to check my smartphone and do my things a maximum of 3 times a day (preferably well divided: morning, noon, evening).

 

The first day was particularly exciting, so I would like to report on this especially...

I woke up, of course with a smartphone alarm. Since I already had my smartphone in hand, I immediately checked my messages, etc. I have to say that I could have done that later, because I usually switch my smartphone offline at night anyway, so the risk would be low to react to messages, because I don't even get them in this mode.

So I did my tasks and then got ready for work. As soon as I got ready, I unconsciously (!) stared at the smartphone to check the time. Oh no! and that on the first day!. I felt pathetic. I immediately switched on the  offline mode so that I am not able to make a mistake like this again and I wouldn't be pulled straight into my smartphone by the next incoming messages.

 

So I started my day.

It's very practical at work, because you're so busy that you don't usually think about your smartphone.

Suddenly, however, the thought came to me: What if someone has an emergency, terrible news arrives, someone needs my help with something, etc.? And I react much too late because I don't look at my smartphone?. These thoughts drove me crazy, because it was actually totally exaggerated. Because if there was an emergency, wouldn't the people rather call directly? And then the next thought came: You have your mobile phone offline! How is someone able to call me? Right, somehow I didn't think it was that great. After all, I would like to be able to reach some people in certain situations and the same could be expected of me. I decided to leave the phone back online for lunch, just in case...

Another thought brought me back to earth: If someone really wants to get in touch with me, that person knows where you live and could just as easily come by in person. I particularly liked that thought. So at lunchtime I checked my smartphone. Of course, there were more messages and emails than if I had checked my smartphone more frequently. But most of it wasn't that important anyway. This means that important messages that require an immediate response rarely come in. There is still time for most of those things hours later. This realization made me very happy. Why did I not get to it without evading the smartphone?.

 

So work continued. However, I still had a few ideas during the day which I need to add/look up on my smartphone (e.g. I have my shopping list on my smartphone and if I think of something which is needed I usually add it immediately so that I do not forget it). So I made an old-school to-do list on a piece of paper so I can look up on it later. That annoyed me a little as it is so oldscool and not paperless. This also made me aware of how dependent we are on these devices. They make our everyday life easier, of course, but we are still very attached to them.

 

In the evening I wanted to go to Instagram to upload a new post to my account. Okay, it's best to do everything in one run, writing messages, writing posts, etc. so that I can put the smartphone aside afterwards.

Said and done.

As soon as realized, I was on my smartphone for approximately an hour. This cannot be real. Maybe I should also specify how long I use my smartphone for morning, noon and evening? Why is it all so complicated eieiei. Well, I didn't want to blame myself too much as I was happy that I had this idea for a selfproject and tackled it.

I put the phone aside in the evening and went to bed.

 

The next day I woke up and I remember it exactly, it was a Friday. More on that in a moment.

Anyway, I checked my smartphone in the morning and then put it away. This time I checked the time with a watch. Ha!. The day was going pretty well until I got home after work and packed my things. I wanted to ride another route and go away for the weekend. I always use the navigation system on my smartphone because it is up to date and I can get through the streets so well. Oh no, another trap!. But what else was left for me?.

But, I don't check my messages while driving and I don't react to them either. I use my GPS and arrived at the destination.

 

This is how my selfproject startet.

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The following week went a lot better. I got used to wearing a watch and reading the time from it again. I tried to remember things I need to look up or type on my phone for later to get my short-term memory back on track, I told people I'm in frequent contact with that I'm doing a project like this and it may be that I will don't answer so quickly, they should just try to call. It worked really well and I was reassured. From that week on I also noticed the positive effects of smartphone detox.

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Where I got nervous at the beginning if I hadn't checked my smartphone again after a while, I am now relaxed, simply beacuse I am not always have to be immediately available.

Moreover, people don't have to expect me to be available and answer immediately?.

I loved this new feeling and made friends with it.

 

But I kept thinking about how would be the best way to handle it in the future. Since I found it very useful, I naturally wanted to continue with it. That's what a project is there for: to see whether it's useful and whether it can be meaningfully integrated into everyday life. I decided not to set any hard rules to follow as it could be very restrictive (e.g. in case you want to shortly check something). I would rather put my smartphone aside more often, entirely on my own will, without being forced to do so. It also often didn't make sense doing it too stirct (e.g. if you had to show your vaccination certificate or scan a QR code or use the navigation system,...). How, please, should I scan a QR code without a smartphone? So I decided to leave it at these activities and tried not to be tied to my smartphone by messages that appeared. This required another dose of self-control. But gradually it got better and better. I was really proud of myself! I'm fine and the world hasn't ended yet because of my offline time. All of this encouraged me even more. I suddenly noticed the many people who were hanging on their smartphones at the table or on the go. I felt that as disrespectful and inattentive. Why can't we just focus on what we're doing and put our full attention into it? For example, if we sit at the table with people to eat together, then we should concentrate purely on enjoying the food and communicating with people. Everything else (checking the smartphone) has time later (unless, of course, you have to call an ambulance etc.). My tip: mute the messages, because otherwise the smartphone is constantly making a sound or vibration bringing us in reaction mode and only switch calls loud. Moreover, another very helpful tool is: turning off the preview for notifications, so for example chat messages are only displayed when one actively enter the app. So we are not continuously triggered by notifications.

In general, it would be so nice if other people would take part doing so? Let's try together to pay more attention to life and what we do and less dependence on the smartphone. I feel so good about it that I've now planned an entire smartphone-free weekend.

 

Let's check on the top of this page what conclusions I draw from this selfproject :)